Posted by milky [milky] on November 17, 1999 at 18:29:55 {xx2d.1sWpQaQ9jD/lNWE7iFsWx/8fI}:
In Reply to: Why Believe the Bible? posted by Is it inspired? on November 16, 1999 at 20:39:27:
Hi Bibleman/Josh
I was'nt sure whether to get into the ring with
you, but given that I differ with you on some of
the points that you made I would like to point out
the following:
1) The jews of today are not descendents of
Abraham and thus cannot inherit what was promised
to Abrahams direct descendants,namely,a restored
Isreal.
2)The "New Jerusalem" spoken of in Revelation
is purely symbolic,it could not possibly be placed
over in Isreal.
Regarding the first point, Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. and all of the jewish records
were destroyed. As you know the jews kept very
accurate records regarding birthdates and linage.
When the romans destroyed the temple they also
destroyed all of their records,so no jew can prove
he is a direct descendent of Abraham.
According to the book"The Thirteenth Tribe"
after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70A.D. approximately 100,000 to 200,000 jews that survived roman persecution fled the middle east and headed north into the steps of Russia. There
they encountered a group of nomadic people who
were called "Kazars".(pronounced Kaazar) It is estimated that there were 4 to 5 million of these
people and they were merchants who bought low and
sold high. The book describes them as looking very
much the way jews look in eastern europe today.
Where are these people? Did they disappear off the
face of the earth? NO, they converted to judiasm
and adopted jewish customs and likewise the jews
adopted some of the customs of the "Kazars"
(Remember the jews of the bible were mostly farmers and shephards, not trinket merchants). Thus quite a few jews today are really "Kazars"!